US1563848A - Antishifting means for piled metal sheets - Google Patents

Description

w. J. HAMMOND ANTLSHIFTING MEANS FOR FILED 'METAL SHEETS Filed May 20, E925 IWA Dec. i925 Patented Dec. l, 1925.

UNITED -STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM J' HAMMOND, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ANTISHIFTING FOR PILED METAI. SHEETS.

Application led Hay20, 1925, Serial No. 31,552.

for Piled Metal Sheets, of which the following is a specification.

The primary object of my invention isto provide comparatively simple and inexpensive mea-ns of superior effectiveness in preventing metal sheets, and the like, in piles thereof. undergoing transportation, from shifting and consequent damage.

I have more particularly devised my 1nvention for an improvement on the practice of shipping metal sheets in boX-carswherein it is usual to stack them'in piles, though my improved means may be similarly used in other. transporting vehicles,.includ1ng boats and trucks having oors, and 4for securing in`place therein, as well as in boxcars, other merchandise. *How/ever, having devised my anti-shifting device particularly,

for use in box-cars, it is hereinafter. described in that connect1on.

It 1s common practice, 1n shippln metal sheets in box-cars, as from sheet-stee manufacturing plants, to pile the sheets 1n opposite sides of opposite ends of the car to leave the doorways unobstructed, and to providea longitudinal aisle between the pllesmto facilitate handling of the sheets.

The loading rules of the Amerlcan Rall- Way Associatlon are very exacting with re` gard to bracing the piles to prevent damage in transit, as by shifting thereof and of the ysheets 4therein in yard-switchin of the cars and by the jolting to which t ey are subjected in motion. i

To observe these loading'rules it isquite general practice to support each pile on-'stationary wedge-blocks at its opposite ends, to provide wooden uprig'hts at those ends secured by cleats nailed to the car-floor and to extend wooden bracing means between pairs of the piles, all this requiring much lumber, which becomes largely wasted because having, anyway for the most part, only a single use,'and involving the work of skilled laborfor several hours of installainfrequent occurrence for such elaborate bracing to be ineffective in its pur ose, the piles sometimes shifting bodily wit resultant damage to the car-ends, or becoming disorganizedand permitting sheets to shift on or even olf' them, with resultant damage, particularly inthe way of bending their edges, and especially their corner-portions, thereby rendering them unfit for intended uses and requiring their return to the mill for re-rolling, with consequent loss to the shipper and dissatisfaction to the customer.

The aforesaid and other objections are overcome by my improvement illustrated in the accompanylng drawing, in which` Figure 1 is a broken sectional plan view of a portion of `a box-oar loaded 1n accordance` with my improvement;

Fig. 2 is a broken-view showing a section on line 2 2, of Fig. 1; 'l

Fig. 3 is a. similar view showing a section on line 3-3, Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing a section on l-ine 4.--4, Fig. 2, and- Fig. 5 is a section on line 5--5, Fig. 1, of one ofthe upper of the two bars between which thev sheets in a pile thereof are confined against-shifting.

The box-car A represented embodies no features of novelty, but may involve a-ny ordinary` or suitable construction. Metal sheets to be transported inx the car are customarily disposed in one or more stacks B,

each stack occupying an end-portion ofI a'4 lside of the car to leave the doorways C'unequipped with my complete anti-shifting means, whereas the vop osite pile is merely represented in outline yv dotted lines without the top membersfof said means being placed for exerting the tightening function ereinafter described. It is desirable and customary to prepare for piling the sheets by securingto the car-floor simllar wooden bracing blocks 6 of wedge-shape, for supporting the ile at its op osite ends, a set of two such locks being s own at each end, in Fig. 1; and cleats 6 are shown nailed to the floor to reinforce the blocks.' The ile being thus supported' sags, as represente in Fig. 2, between the pairs of wedge-blocks,

and may contact therebetween with thel carfloor, on which it is furthermore customary and desirable to fasten wooden cleats 7 at opposite sides of the pile to stay it laterally.

vThe bracing means thus described as being hitherto used may be desirably, but not necessarily employed with my improvement, described as follows:

Adjacent each end of a pile of the sheets to be stacked, and near the inner ends of the respective blocks 6, is laid, to extend across the pile B in frictional contact with the car-loor, a bottom-bar 8, preferablyl of metal and of greater length than the width of the pile to be formed, in order that it shall project beyond the sides thereof, where it is provided with holes 8a for the rods hereinafter described. For the bars 8, I prefer to use those of channel-form because under the weight upon them their flanges willengage the car-floor in a manner tending to prevent slipping; and also because of the strength of that form of bar. And, since the metal bar should not contact with the lowermost sheet, because of liability of marring it, I provide a cushioning medium, which should `loe of the length and width of the metal bar and contain holes to register with the holes 8, a bar 8b of soft-wood, such as pine, being most desirable for the purpose of thus supplementing the bar 8; and the two affording practically a single cushioning bar. Moreover, the tops of the cushioning bars should slant, as shown in Fig. 2, to conform to the inclination of the portion of the pile B'bearing thereon, thereby to avoid tilting of the bottom bars on their inner flanges under the wei ht of the ile 8 and cause substantiall uni orm bearing of the two bar-flanges throughout their length.

With a pile or piles B loaded into the car, bars 10, preferably like the bars 8 in form and dimensions and provided with holes like the holes 8a lto register with the latter,

and also provided with cushioning meansv 10, are laid across the top of the pile near its opposite ends, but with each preferably slightly offset from the relative bottom bar, as represented in Fig. 2, for the purpose hereinafter explained. The cushioning means in this instance is also preferably a bar of soft Wood, and it is Shown fitting within the hollow of the channel-bar, the flanges of which meet shoulders (Fig. 5) behind an expanded face of the wood to bear against the uppermost sheet of the pile and avoid the undesirable metal-against-metal mar'ring contact, hereinbefore referred to. The open side of the channel-bar 10 on top of the pile B being undermost, enables the cushionln medium 10 to form a permanent part of t e bar, and may be fastened in place, as by screws 11.

, With the bottom-bars 8 and top-bars 1() in place, metal rods 12, which may be solid or tubular, are applied by passing a rod through their respective holes at each side of the'pile and forcing the bars 10 against theAtop of the pile to tighten the metal sheets in place. Each rod is provided on its lower end with a stop, shown as a nut 13, and is'threaded along its upper portion for working a nut 14 thereon, as the preferred means for cooperating with'vthe rods to force down the top-bars for tightening the metal sheets in the pile against shifting.

' The purpose, in applying the top clamping bar in offset relation to its companion bottom bar, is to cause each rod to extend through a perpendicular plane at right angles to the tangent to the surface of the pile at that point, and thus produce flatwise bearing against the uppermost sheet Aof the bar 10 in tightening the nuts 14 to confine the sheetsin the pile.

It will thus be seen that the several sheets are held tightly together in superposed relation and prevented from displacement, and that the weight of the pile of sheets causes the lower bar to frictionally engage the transporting vehicle thus preventing the shifting of the pile ofsheets as a whole.

i A box-car loaded with four piles of metal sheets may be completely equipped with my improved anti-shifting means by an unskilled laborer in thirty minutes, as against several hours a. carpenter requires for cut-V ting and placing the lumber (mostly twoby-fours) for the pile-bracing purpose as hitherto practised.

I realize that considerable variation is possible in the details of construction of my invention thus shown and described, and I do not intend to be limited thereto except as pointed out in the appended claims, in which it is my intention toA claim all the novelty inherent in my invention as broadly as permissible by the state of the art.

I claim- 1. Anti-shifting means for piled metal sheets whereby to prevent their displacement, either singly or as a mass, While in transit, comprising a lower pile-supporting bar Yof a length to cause its ends to project beyond the sides ofthe pile said bar fric.- tionally engaging the transporting vehicle in degree proportionate to theweight of the sheets piled thereon, an upper bar extending across the top of the pile with its ends projecting beyond the sides thereof, means connecting the ends of said bars, and tightening means co-operating with said barconnecting means to confine the piled sheets between said bars. v

2. Anti-shifting means for piled metal sheets in transit, comprising a lower channel-bar extending across the bottom of the pile and a bar extending across the top thereof, each bar being of length to project sides, rods connecting said bars through! their end-portions and having threaded upper ends, and nuts on the threaded rod-ends for releasably confining the piled sheets between said bars. i

4. In combination with a pile of metal sheets, or the like, stacked for transit in a car, anti-shifting means comprising a cushioning channel-bar of greater length than the width of the pile extending across the bottom thereof, a channel-bar similarly extending across the top of the pile and containing a bar of cushioning material bearing against the pile, rods connecting said bars at their end-portions, and tightening means cooperating with the rods to confine the piled sheets between said bars.

5. In combination with a pile of metal sheets, or the like, stacked for transit in a car, bars extending respectively across the bottomand top of the pile near each end thereof and beyond its sides with the lower bar bearing on the car floor, rods connecting each lower bar at its projecting ends with those of the corresponding upper bar, and tightening means cooperating with the rods to releasabl)T confine the piled sheets between said upper and lower bars.

6. In a "car having lmetal sheets, or the like, stacked in piles in opposite sides of the car to form an intermediate aisle, with each pile resting at its opposite ends on wedgeblocks secured in place, anti-shifting means `for the stacked metal sheets, applied between the inner ends of the opposite pairs of wedge-blocks and comprising for each end-portion of a pile a pair of bars having its members extending respectively across its bottom and top and beyond the sides thereof, end-threaded rods connecting the members of each pair of the bars at their projecting end-portions, and ynuts on the threaded rodends for releasably confining the sheetsbetween said bars.

7. In a car having piles of metal sheets, or the like, stacked in opposite sides thereof to form an intermediate aisle, with each pile resting at its opposite ends on wedge-blocks secured in place. anti-shifting means for the stacked metal sheets, applied between the inner ends of the opposite pairs of wedgeblocks and comprising for each end-portion of a pile a pair of cushioning channel-bars having its members extending respectively across the bottom and top and bevond the sides thereof, rods extending through and connecting the members of each pairof the bars at their projecting end-portions and having their upper ends threaded, and nuts on the threaded rod-ends for releasably coninving the sheets between said bars.

WILLIAM J. HAMMOND.

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